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My risk was mutual masturbation and fingering (with a cut) a sex worker.

I know mutual masturbation and fingering are not legitimate risks, and if it weren't for the cut on my finger I wouldn't be worried or posting here.

I noticed the cut on my finger about 5 to 6 hours after my incident. It is similar to a paper cut. When I noticed it, it was fresh and hadn't scabbed over yet. Now, it has scabbed which means the cut was deep enough to produce a scab.

I fingered the sex worker vigorously for maybe about a minute with a couple times where I went as deep as possible. She was very wet.

I do not want to put my wife at any risk, no matter how small the "odds" were. I know there is a theoretical risk with a cut on my finger, which excludes the "no risk" factor.

My question is do I need to test in your expert opinion or can I have unsafe sex with my wife as if nothing happened? FYI, I know I am HIV-negative and disease-free before this incident.

With the mutual masturbation I'm pretty sure I fingered her and then used the same hand to masturbate myself for about a minute. And then I put a hand towel between her and me and dry humped her. Our skin did not touch in the genital area. Also, if you would be so kind as to give me your input, what risk for other STI's besides HIV did I put myself in?

BTW, I have been on this site before and I was a wreck then. Thanks to this site, especially Andy V., and being more informed, I thought I learned my lesson. I was safer this time but come to realize, not safe enough. If I'm not mistaken, fingering with a cut on my finger is greater risk for infection than having insertive sex with a condom. Either way, I'm glad I was able to refrain from having penetrative sex, but here I am again still with that unsafe chance. The ironic thing is, I refrained from having sex not for any guilt reasons nor for any "realistic" concerns for catching STI's, but more to relieve myself of the burden of having to worry. Because last time, it occupied me to no end and took a huge toll on my life for the worse for few months. But here I am again, though not as much a wreck but still with a question about testing and resuming a sex life with my wife.

No matter what spin and details you put on it, short of an immediately open bleeding wound on your finger and copious amounts of blood pouring into it the risk is strictly theoretical. Long before a scap forms over a cut, nick or wound, your skin immediately begins forming a protective covering not visible to the eye. There's never been a confirmed case of transmission via fingering and I am confident that you won't make history by becoming the first.

As far as other STDs, they can be much easier to get than HIV. Some are only a matter of skin to skin contact. So if you have any doubts because of symptoms, that's something to discuss with your doctor. Nothing you have described seems risky to me.

Beware of guilt. You went straying and the residual feelings about that can play havoc with your mind. You did what you did. Can't undo that. Take a breath, let it go and get on with your life.

I can't flatly say anything about other STDs. For instance, if a partner is having an outbreak of herpes it can be passed through skin contact or kissing. As long as you feel comfortable that you don't have any symptoms or think other STDs are an issue then I don't see a problem.

Andy, you are one of those "everyday heroes". I think a lot of people strive to impact others the way you have and do here over the many years.

That goes for the other mods on here too.

This happened because of marital problems, but I had a talk with my wife and we've agreed to take some time and really assess our relationship. Then it'll be a matter of deciding to end it or go forward. Either way, I vow to you, Andy, my online hero =) as well as to myself that I will never put myself in a risk situation again.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I was on here a long time ago. Andy V. nice to see you are still around (I also remember RapidRod as well). Unfortunately, I am back on here to ask another risk question.

- Before I went to a sex worker I plucked some pubic hairs and used a beard shaver to trim my pubic hairs. - Then I went to a sex worker and she started to play with my penis with her hands and boobs (no condom). - I rubbed her vagina on top of her panties, as her panties were still on. - While I was rubbing her she was rubbing my penis with her hands with some liquid she put on (some kind of lubricant).

- I then put a condom on. But this condom was provided by her so how can i be sure it was a good condom? She also kept it inside her panties right on her pubic region. - Well, she blew into the condom and put condom on, and then gave me a blowjob. - I checked her vagina area and though it was dark did not notice anything unusual. - Then I eventually entered her vagina doggie style. I made sure that no part of my body touched hers other than what was covered by my condom. So I had no direct skin to skin contact. Then I took the condom off. - Then I grabbed some tissue, put it around my penis and masturbated. But while I was masturbating, some of my hand that took the condom off touched my penis skin.

I am worried about three things:1. The possible vaginal fluid touching my penis. Worried about HIV risk as well as genital warts risk.2. I am also worried the condom she gave was not adequate.3. And I am worried the trimming and plucking I did may have made me more susceptible to catching genital warts or HIV.

Can you please tell me my risk for ANY STDs and HIV? I will get tested once I stop being a cheating wussie.

Once again, thanks to you guys for your generous support with us cheating bastards that use sex workers.

We are an HIV specific website so if you have concerns about STDs other than HIV, you should discuss those with a doctor.

Regarding HIV there is nothing you raise in your latest posts which which would place you at risk of infection.

HIV is transmitted inside the body, ie through unprotected anal or vaginal sex, from sharing contaminated injecting equipment such as needles and syringes and in some case from HIV positive mother to her unborn child.

Do you think condoms provided by sex workers are safe? I should add the condom was not in a package. She just pulled it out of her panties and it was already unwrapped. I know there are different colors and types of condoms, but it didn't look like the ones I've seen. The ones I've seen the top pocket area is more flimsy. This one the top pocket area was rigid and stood up straight.

By and large commerical sex workers are quite particular about things like condoms. They use them to protect themselves from their clients and so it's unlikely that the worker you saw is going to use a substandard product.